wo girls hastily finished
their dressing and their discussion, and went down to join their
friends.

Whether, in the hurry of salutations and leave-taking, Mabel actually
_forgot_ her promise to speak to her mamma about the sleeves, we shall
not undertake to say; certain it is, that there was no mention made of
them. And the party set off in high spirits to join their young friends
the Maitlands, as had been agreed, at the gate of the Zoological
Gardens.

There had been strict punctuality on both sides, for neither party had
to wait.

But great was Mabel's mortification to find Dora and Annie had, like her
sister Julia, dressed themselves in their plain grey frocks, so _she_
looked like a golden pheasant among a set of barn-door fowls: and
however much vanity she possessed, her common sense taught her that she
had laid herself open to ridicule; though of course no one spoke of her
dress, and even the beautiful sleeves seemed at the time to attract no
attention.

In a very short time, the whole party were intently gazing with wonder
and admiration on the marvels of creation.

The elephants, the giraffe, the rhinoceros, the hippopotamus, etc., all
passed in review, and elicited remarks of wonder and astonishment from
the young visitors, such as their monstrous size and great strength were
well calculated to draw forth. The lions, tigers, leopards and bears
came in for a share of applause; but as the strength of these animals is
not evidenced by their size, I must acknowledge they were taken less
notice of than either the huge creatures or the smaller and more elegant
and delicate quadrupeds, which, generally speaking, won the admiration
of the party. The bipeds, we may be sure, were not neglected; but the
congregated tribe of them kept up such an incessant clatter, that having
borne it for some little time, Harry Maitland was fain to stop his ears
and run out of their house, declaring that 'their noise was worse than
could be made by a hundred scolding women.' A very ungallant
declaration, certainly, for a young gentleman, and one that he had not,
and was never likely to have, the opportunity of proving the truth of.
Harry was soon joined by the young ladies, whom the noise of the
parrot-house had nearly deafened, and a general resolution was put, and
carried by the whole party, Mabel herself not excepted, that fine
plumage did not at all make amends for disagreeable propensities.

'And now,' said Harry Maitland,